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Photography: Tomales Catholic Cemetery

“The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place.”—Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais

I’ve passed the Tomales Catholic cemetery for years and always wanted to stop. On Thanksgiving, I finally did. Wandering the grounds taking pictures of the beautiful statues, some dating back to the 1800s, my mind wandered to my own lineage. I have no sacred grounds to honor my ancestors and so I choose to think of them.

Hawks circled above me and the sun shone far too bright in the early afternoon sky. I felt a variety of feelings from unease to joy. I wondered about the women who came before me and the roads they walked. Gratitude flooded my body. My camera is a time machine. A lens to see more than I can.

Walk with me.

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  • Photos were taken with Olympus OM-D  and edited with ON1 Photo RAW

70 thoughts on “Photography: Tomales Catholic Cemetery”

  4. Bridgette I love the black and white in these photographs, it brings out the detail, it leaves you with a feeling of tranquility but ls gives us a glipes into our own mortality very humbling. Up my street Thanks for sharing 😁

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    • Thank you! Yes, I’m learning to really appreciate the differences but also recognize the similarities when it comes to gravestones. I’ve noticed the older stones always do the math for you, telling you exactly how old the person was at death. They also often mention the home country of birth.

      I noticed an entire family buried in one plot close together except for one woman. She had a smaller headstone and was off to one side, as if perhaps to distance herself from the others. I know there’s a story there.

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    • That cobweb was so cool! This cemetery had a lot of bees too but they were quick and didn’t land long enough for me to photograph them. Yes, the wandering of graveyards is becoming something I find both moving and peaceful. So many stories and lives.

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